Paper Number: 753
New Discoveries in the late Neoproterozoic of Iran
Patricia Vickers-Rich1, Farnoosh Farjandi2, Sara Soleimani3, Mehdi Zand4, Ulf Linnemann5, Mandy Hofmann6 & Thomas H. Rich7
School of EAE, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic 3800, Australia, pat.rich@monash.edu
Dept of Geochemical Exploration, Geol Survey of Iran, Tehran, Iran
Paleontology Department, Geol Survey of Iran, Tehran, Iran
4. Koushk Mine, Bafq Mining Company, Yazd, Iran
5. Senckenberg Naturhist Samml, Dresden, Geochron, Dresden, Germany
6. Senckenberg Naturhist Samml, Dresden, Geochron, Dresden, Germany
7. Mus Victoria,P. O. Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria, 3001 Australia
During late 2015 new discoveries of Neoproterozoic metazoans were made in the Bafq Region of Central Iran, a joint Iranian-Australian expedition, hosted by the Iranian Geological Survey and the International Geological Program Project IGCP587. Previous to the newly discovered material supposed Vendian/Ediacaran metazoans including Permoria, Beltanella, and forms similar to Dickinsonia, Spriggina and Medusites [1], a medusa imprint - Persimedusites chahgazensis [2], along with Charnia [3], had been reported, but not well documented. Other ediacaran/vendian-aged material was also reported in the Elborz Mountains by [4]. The new material discovered in 2015 both questions the identity of the previously described material and adds new taxa to the list of late Precambrian metazoans previously reported, increasing the biodiversity for this region and reinterpreting other taxa based on these new discoveries.
References
[1] Stocklin J (1968) AAPG Bull 52 (7):1229-1258
[2] Hahn G & Pflug H (1980) Senckenbergiana Lethacea 60 (4/6)449-461
[3] Glaessner M F (1984) In: The Dawn of Life – A Biohistorical Study: Cambridge University Press
[4] Hamdi, M et al. (1989) Geol Mag 126 (3):283-289
Figure 1. New material from the Bafq
region of Iran similar to Persimedusites
reported in the past as a medusa imprint.